Summery; Warning; Disclaimer: See First Chapter.

After over two years, this story has finally reached completion! My deepest apologies, and thanks, to those who patiently waited for this final chapter. I do feel it was best for me to wait, instead of rushing a half-baked chapter, and I feel this is what I wanted for this story. I hope you all enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!

Congrats on reaching the end with me!

Xoe had thought she had been careful, but the peace that had wrapped itself around the house like a cocoon for the past four days was shattered as a searing pain struck her, knocking the breath out of her and forced her to the floor.

"Xoe? What the hell?" Reno asked frantically, crouching next to her, but afraid to touch her. She cried out in pain and curled into a fetal position, pain clouding her eyes.

"It…hurts…" she whimpered, trying to breath.

"What does? Everything?" he guessed, gently putting his hand on her shoulder. When there was no reaction from that, he correctly assumed it was from the inside and gathered her to him, at a loss for what else to do. "What the hell happened?" he demanded to no one in particular. He hadn't sensed anything, and Xoe was suddenly on the floor in pain, calm to wounded in a split-second.

"It's like…the water…" Xoe gasped, clutching his jacket as if it was a life support. "It…hurts so bad…Reno…help…"

"It's all right, it'll be over soon," he promised, hoping his words were true as he tried to soothe her. He held her tightly to him for several long minutes when, to his relief, the pain apparently began to subside. "Is it better now?" he asked, not sure what else to say.

"Yes," Xoe told him, nodding weakly. She felt like her bones had been on fire, and somehow it felt like the pain was lurking somewhere nearby, waiting for another chance. She didn't tell Reno that, however, and simply clutched him for comfort. "I'm all right…it died back down. I don't know where it came from."

"I don't either, but I have a feeling it's not a good thing," Reno said grimly, setting her down on the couch for the moment. "Something's going on," he muttered, pacing the small room several times while his mind raced furiously. He wanted to go and look around for something – a trigger of some kind – but knew he couldn't leave Xoe, or take her with him. He was saved the trouble of debating any longer, however, when he heard the front door bang open.

"Shit!" he thought. He grabbed Xoe up and jumped out the window of the room, landing in the streets and heading towards Vincent's flat without bothering to look behind him. He sensed danger, and that was all he needed. Xoe remained silent, still pale from the pain before, but something in her eyes appeared odd. Reno didn't notice, too busy escaping, and only concentrated on reaching the strange man before their enemy reached them.

"What do you want?" Vincent demanded, opening the door to find a panting Reno, who was holding Xoe.

"Someone…after us…" he managed, as Xoe slid out of his arms to her feet. Vincent immediately noticed her eyes, but turned his attention sharply to Reno at those words.

"After you?" he repeated. Without another word, he hauled them inside and shut the door, locking it securely and crossing his arms sternly. "Who?"

"Dunno…took off before they found us," Reno told him, recovering slightly. "The front door banged open, and I sensed danger. That was it – I wasn't gonna stick around to see who the hell didn't bother knocking!" he added defensively, but Vincent didn't say anything about that.

"What happened to you?" the man asked Xoe, who looked slightly surprised, but shook her head. Reno's attention was turned back to her with Vincent's question, and he finally noticed her eyes as well – instead of the usual green, her pupil was a black swirl in a pool of green that was deepening with each moment.

"Something hit me," she said, trying to explain and apparently unaware that anything odd was going on to her. "Like…I don't know. Something caused me so much pain, I thought I was going to die," she admitted. "I was fine, and then the next thing I knew…"

"Exposure," Vincent said grimly, and continued when Reno opened his mouth to ask. "The geostigma. I thought it had been dormant for too long. And the Meteor…" He trailed off, almost as if he was unwilling to say what he was thinking.

"What about the fucking Meteor?" Reno demanded, slightly panicked at this point.

"You both know what she is – exposure to the Meteor could cause her to become unstable," Vincent said bluntly, and Xoe's eyes widened – not with shock, but more like sudden understanding. "I can only think that Shinra has discovered where you were, and now he's going to follow you to the most likely place – here."

"Fuck, fuck, fuck," Reno muttered, beginning to pace again. He couldn't think of anything else to do, and it was going to drive him crazy if it lasted much longer. "What the fuck are we gonna do?" he demanded, turning to Vincent almost pleadingly.

"Stay here," Vincent replied calmly. "He won't be able to harm you here, I promise. I have certain…defenses in this building. And Shinra will be by himself."

"Unless he decides to drag the others along with him," Reno argued. All three knew he meant the other Turks, his former comrades, and his argument was highly likely. Vincent was the only who remained calm when a loud explosion was heard, and when they turned to him he remained impassive.

"I said I had defenses here," he explained calmly, and Reno shook his head to clear it of the ringing in his ears.

"Are you sure we should stay here?" Reno demanded. Vincent ignored him, and turned to Xoe as if the world wasn't going to hell around them.

"You need to leave," he informed her, and Reno was so pissed he was temporarily speechless.

"I know," Xoe said softly, nodding her acceptance. Reno stomped forward, but she put her hand on his chest lightly. "Just until Shinra's gone," she assured him, the lie slipping from her easily. "It'll go easier on the two of you if I'm nowhere to be found," she said, but he shook his head stubbornly.

"You're not going off on your own."

"She has to," Vincent said sharply, folding his arms underneath his cloak. "Or else Shinra is going to kill us all. Stop acting like a child, Reno, and think like a Turk!"

"That's all I've ever done!" he snapped back, but the rest of his words were lost to a deafening explosion right outside the door.

"It's too late," Vincent hissed, as Xoe backed up towards the window, Reno remaining in front of her. The Turk swore as Shinra kicked the door down, a weapon tingling with electricity in his hands.

"I'm impressed, Vincent," the man said calmly, as if nothing out of the ordinary was occurring. "Most of those defenses are quite advanced. They were quite difficult to break through."

"What do you want, Shinra?" Vincent demanded unnecessarily. The man laughed, a little too shrilly for their liking, and shook his head.

"As if that was ever a question," he remarked, his gaze sliding over the room and resting on Xoe. "I'm here for the fragment. She'll come with me, and I'll release Reno from the Turks. It will be as if he never existed – a rather generous offer, don't you think?" he asked, and Reno snorted.

"Where're the others?" he growled, and Shinra cocked an eyebrow his way.

"Where they are needed," he replied evasively, and shifted the weapon impatiently in his hands. "Come now, Xoe, it must be obvious what the answer is. If not…" He trailed off calmly, and she winced.

Vincent glanced back at her, and an unspoken decision seemed to pass between them. In the next instant, Vincent flashed to the other side of the room, distracting Shinra while Xoe pushed Reno to the ground.

"What the –!" Reno managed, cut off when Shinra's weapon exploded in his hands, aimed Reno and Xoe's way. Vincent tackled Shinra, and Xoe flipped out of the window, disappearing from the room.

"Damn it!" Shinra yelled, rushing to the window and recovering his sense after a second. "It doesn't matter, I have the others waiting with orders to seek her out if she escaped my grasp," he informed them, striding towards the door. Reno lunged at his ex-boss, but Vincent held him back.

"Why didn't ya let me kill him?" Reno growled, pulling free from Vincent's grasp once Shinra was gone. "I could've ended it!"

"It wouldn't have done any good," Vincent told him, but Reno was already striding from the room. "Where are you going?" he demanded, though he already knew the answer.

"Where you think I am," the redhead snarled, and would have slammed the door behind him if it hadn't been laying on the floor in pieces.

"Damn it," Vincent swore softly, going to the window. He saw the prints in the dirt where Xoe had landed, but after that there was no trace of which direction she had gone. He debated with himself quickly before slamming the window shut.

Xoe sensed, rather than heard, someone behind her, and she picked up speed as best she could. Vincent's words had made her realize what her fate was, and that seemed to unlock countless memories in her mind. A complete library, of sorts, of past events concerning Jenova and Sephiroth, and then the three brothers – her brothers, she supposed, but didn't dwell on the thought.

"Hold!" a voice shouted, but she paid no heed to it. Gasping for air, she dodged a low tree limb and kept moving, the pounding of her heart keeping time with the pounding of her boots on the dirt beneath her feet.

"Stop, or we'll fire!" another person warned her, and this threat was not an empty one. Xoe yelped when gunfire erupted behind her, and fell the forest floor in an effort to avoid any bullets. Something 'pinged' on the bark beside her, and she winced at how close it was.

Suddenly, she heard a familiar yell behind her as well, and her head shot up when sounds of a brawl broke out.

"Reno?" she murmured to herself, and shook her head. "That idiot," she added, tears filling her eyes. They soon disappeared, however, when she heard him yell in pain, and narrowed her eyes.

"Damn it!" Reno groaned, having been punched to the ground by Rude, while Elena had a foot on his chest, gun pointed at his head. "What the fuck is wrong with you?" he demanded, and Tseng sighed.

"Did you really think we were with Shinra? You idiot," he muttered. "If we had managed to reach her first, we were going to bring her back to Vincent. He knew."

"Where's Shinra?" Elena demanded, and Reno winced when she stomped on him.

"Hey! I don't know! He'd be in hell if Vincent hadn't held me back," he added with a growl in his throat, and Tseng considered this.

"He could very well be –"

"Alive, well, and present, thank you," Shinra interrupted coolly, and the Turks' gazes all focused on their boss as he approached them, a sardonic smirk on his face. "So nice to know you're all so loyal," he added conversationally, and Tseng's eyes narrowed defensively.

"Sir, we were –"

"Plotting against me? I've known ever since you let Reno escape," he informed them, moving closer. They could see contempt in his eyes, as well as something else – and they knew their boss had gone past the point of no return.

Shinra's gaze snapped in another direction as noises approached them, and Xoe appeared from the foliage, her eyes wide. "Lovely," he remarked, pointing the weapon at her. "Now, if you'd rather not come with me, my previous offer is null and void. I'm simply going to kill you now."

"No!" Reno shouted, as the weapon went off. They saw the blast reach her – and then it seemed to dissipate. Xoe's eyes were the same strange color they had been last time Shinra had attacked her, and she glared at him.

"Hm, her powers are surfacing again," Shinra said thoughtfully. "And no Reno to save her. What a shame," he continued, lowering his weapon. Elena pulled Reno to his feet, a bit reluctantly stepping aside for him, and the Turks stood together defensively.

"What's going on?" the female Turk hissed to Tseng, who murmured back to them after a minute.

"I'm not sure," he admitted, to their shock. Shinra began to approach the Turks calmly, while Xoe remained still nearby.

"I'm disappointed," he informed them, his eyes dangerously calm. "You were all trained by my father, and trained to serve the Shinra name alone. It appears that you now serve only your own interests. That's a dangerous mistake in this business."

"Scatter!" Tseng ordered, as Shinra suddenly raised the weapon to face them. The Turks dived aside, and Shinra's aim followed one particular Turk in particular.

"Reno!" Xoe shrieked, and complete silence followed the discharge.

"Are we alive?" Elena asked, her head finally clearing. Looking around, she saw Shinra on the ground, face-up and the weapon smoking in his hand. Rude knelt unsteadily, and looked around for his shades in shock.

"I think," Tseng said sharply. "Where's Reno?"

"He's…" Rude began, but couldn't finish when he saw his best friend.

"Shit," Elena breathed, getting to her feet with the help of a sturdy limb. "Reno, are you…" she started, and backed off when she met his cold stare.

"I'm fine," he said coldly, before looking down at the young woman in his arms. Her eyes were empty, and blood trickled from her mouth. It pooled around Reno's knees, and her limp body rested the way only the dead could.

"Reno…" Rude called to him quietly, crouching beside his friend, but was ignored. They were surprised at the depths of sorrow in the young man's eyes as he gazed at the lifeless body in his arms.

"Where's Shinra?" he suddenly asked, his head raising and his voice dangerously quiet. Rude pointed without a word, none of the Turks wanting to get in the way of their broken-hearted comrade. "He better be alive," Reno growled, laying Xoe's body down gently and stalking over to his old boss.

To his delight, Shinra groaned when kicked in the side, and Reno hauled him to his feet by his collar.

"You're going to wish you were dead, trust me," he hissed, his nose touching the other man's. Shinra opened his eyes to see Reno's boring into his, and managed to smirk.

"So…it's over."

"Over for you? Not quiet yet," the Turk informed him grimly, and casually snapped his arm, leaving it hanging in two broken pieces at his side. Shinra protested weakly, but no one made a move to help him.

"Drop him," Vincent ordered, stalking forward. His eyes rested briefly, almost sadly, on Xoe's body before returning sternly to the scene before him. "I said, drop him," he repeated, and Reno obeyed against his will.

"Vincent…"

"There'll be time enough for vengeance," the man told him calmly, peering unsympathetically at the whimpering Shinra. "Trust me."

"Reno, something's happening," Elena said suddenly, and the two men turned quickly to see pyreflies dancing around Xoe's body.

"What the fuck now?" Reno demanded, rushing over and going to cradle her in his arms. To his dismay, her body was fading before their eyes, and became intangible. "No…" he moaned painfully, as the last of Xoe disappeared into the air, the pyreflies fading into the woods as well.

"Come on," Rude said quietly, placing his hand on the young man's shoulder.

"Is he dead yet?" Elena asked disinterestedly, looking up from the paper when Tseng entered the room. They had returned to their base, and to her personal distaste, Shinra had been brought as well.

"I think so," the head Turk said, almost tiredly, and took a seat. "I've never seen so much rage before," he told her after a long pause. "So much rage…he's dangerous," he continued, hanging his head despondently.

"What're we going to do?" she asked after a minute. "I mean, if…"

"What can we do?" he replied in defeat. "Nothing."

"Vincent's here," Rude informed them suddenly, striding into the room. "He wants to see Reno outside. Now."

"You can tell him that," Tseng agreed, rubbing his eyes. "Maybe Vincent can talk some sense into him…what does he want?" he asked abruptly, before Rude stepped from the room.

"I don't know," the shaded man admitted, before leaving.

"Let's go see for ourselves," Elena decided, pulling Tseng to his feet.

"What the fuck do you want?" Reno demanded, loping down the stairs to ground level, seeing Vincent waiting patiently at the bottom of the stairs.

"I received some news last night," he said calmly, peering intently at the Turk. "News that surprised me quite a bit. I think you'll be interested."

"What?" Reno asked testily, as the other three Turks gathered by the door curiously. It had been a week since they had seen Vincent, and three since Reno had brought Shinra back to the base, seeking vengeance.

"Reno?" a voice asked cautiously, and an electric shock ran down his spine, bolting him to the ground.

"Wh…what…"

"She was purified," Vincent informed him, as Xoe stepped out from behind the cloaked man, dressed in a sea-blue top and black trousers and shoes. "I found her at the pool last night," he continued, seeing that Reno was at a loss for words.

"I made it back," she said softly, smiling gently at him as her hair hung down her back in loose waves. "I promised," she added, and Reno flashed back to seconds before the blast.

"I'll never leave you," she had whispered, as she flashed in front of him to block the blast. After that, it was nothing but deafening silence and white lights before his eyes…

"Xoe…" he managed weakly, and the Turks were stunned – again – to see tears in Reno's eyes. "You…are very weird," he said finally, a weak laugh accompanying his words.

"I know," she agreed, her eyes shining with unshed tears. Before he could say anything else, Xoe rushed into his arms, almost knocking him off his feet.

"You stupid, stupid girl," he whispered into her hair, holding her to him tightly. Vincent looked away, almost seeming embarrassed, and narrowed his eyes when the three other Turks waved gratefully at him. He nodded, and left before anyone else could involve him further.

"I love you, Reno," she mumbled into his shirt, and he pulled her chin up to look into her eyes.

"You have no idea how fucking messed up I was," he complained, before kissing her soundly on the lips.

And there we are. Executed with my usual flair for the dramatic. I needed a happy ending, of course.